Quentin

Excellent. I'll print this one off and add it to my notes. When you say you crop everything square, do you mean the 1:1 setting?

@MilosCandles I've visited your Etsy shop a couple of times the last few weeks. Pretty impressive number of sales. I can see why you would do fewer and fewer shows. That's the position I'd love to eventually be in.

I now have a light box/studio. This one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5O9D0Z/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's pretty self explanatory how to set it up and use the lights that come with it. But I do have a question or two about product photography regarding the light in the room I choose to use? Do I turn off all the overhead lights and lamps in the room? Do I close the blinds or shutters to block out any external light from the windows? Do I turn the box with its back toward the windows, etc? I'm going to try this with my cell phone and my webcam, so I'll turn off the flash. I'm going to set the cell camera on the "Auto" setting. There are manual adjustments but I'm not a photographer and don't think I should try that first. I haven't owned a camera in several years, but if it comes down to it then I'll buy one. I'd rather not unless absolutely necessary. Actually, I rarely take any pictures at all. Any advice would be helpful.

I can't seem to picture that. Do you have one clothespin coming from each side?

I mean my Edwic store. I haven't tried to integrate Etsy yet.

Moving the domain from GoDaddy to B12 was simple. B12 did it for me.

How much does the free stuff cost?

I just saw something in your question that I don't think I answered. If I list the product on my store site, it automatically populates my B12 site.

Do I use the website as a landing spot? Hmm. I guess that's what I'm doing, since I'm putting my B12 website on all my products, business cards, stationery, etc. Let me say this about B12. I didn't shop price too much on this venture. I really can't tell you if they're expensive or not. The salesman gave me a better price right off the bat. If you get on the phone with him, balk at the price and he'll probably give you a deal. All I can say is that I feel I'm getting my money's worth. You fill out a little interview form on their site. Then they show you a mock up. Then you make an appointment right then for a phone consultation. The first guy that calls is the salesman. If you decide to take their offer, he sets you up with another guy that serves as your permanent consultant. Then you answer a few more questions about your preferences. He takes it from there. They are easy to communicate with and they never fail to respond. If you don't understand how to do something, he will help you with it or even do it for you. When I shop for anything, I don't shop entirely by price. I shop by what I perceive as VALUE. Sometimes the lowest price is the best, sometimes the mid price, sometimes the high price. I would never by a pair of size 13 shoes because the were on sale at 75% off. That wouldn't be a good VALUE for me because I wear a size 8 1/2. That's just how I look at things.

I think I've got just about all the types of centering devices. The bowtie type is and exact fit for some of my molds and jars. The thin metal ones with real sharp notch will slice through the wick if your not careful and if you pour to the top, sometimes the wax gets all caught up in it and creates a big mess. The nice thing about the bowties is you can flip them upside down and use them that way too. I really want some of @MilosCandles just as soon as they hit the market. Really, @MilosCandles you've got a winner there. Those things will sell $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I need to pay a visit to my local library and see if they have a 3-D printer. Do you think they might 3-D print an AR-15 for me?

Have you tried any of the liquid white dyes? AAA sells one. Not the auto club, but aaacandlesupply.com

Milos, you are a wiz at stuff like that.

I essentially followed Milos advice that he gave me in this thread on 10/23/18. I didn't do it exactly the same way, but basically did and it has turned out well. While far from being finished, I'm up and running online. Here's what I've got so far. 1) Facebook page. 2) Etsy Shop 3) Ecwid Store 4) Website by B12. B12 is able to offer me great person to person assistance on the phone and via email and they are able to help me with other questions that they really don't have to but they always help me. That was something I needed. 5) Pirate Ship is there when it's the best option for me. 6) Square for payments at remote locations. While not all these integrate together, some do. I doubt there is any combination you could put together that will do it all. FB page directs to Etsy and B12. Ecwid integrates with Square and B-12 website. Etsy directs to B-12 and FB. Ecwid and Etsy offer me invoicing options. The B12 website can direct shoppers anywhere I want them to go. My biggest holdup now is getting good photography, but that's a different topic. I'm working on that.

I'll tell you what I've learned over the past year. Where I live it's unbearably hot and humid in summer. Humid and cool to bitterly cold and humid in winter and can change literally day to day. Always humid. My shop is in a hot garage in summer. No insulation or A/C in the garage. It has a wall mounted natural gas furnace so winter is not a problem. In the hot weather I stored the soy flakes and all my "soft" waxes indoors under my beds where it was always cool and in low humidity. In the garage, the soy flakes clumped together and it was sticky, messy and even more yucky than usual. My "hard" waxes can live anywhere. For the winter, it's all in the garage. The part we just learned from @TallTayl is new knowledge for me, so I learned something new today and it's not even lunch time yet.

Ahh. Just blow the dust off it or break off the annoying parts and throw them in the trash. It's like buying a bag of potting soil or a bag of sugar. You'll never get all of it.

My redundancy is becoming very redundant.

Did you lose much wax, though?

It happens to me at least 50% of the time.

I can see I'm gonna have to buy one of those turntables. Is there anything Amazon doesn't have?

Are you talking about the signs behind the tables? Frames made from PVC. You can do a lot of things with PVC. PVC ROCKS!

Ahh, brings back memories of the Big Mac I ate in 1971 just before going to a football game. Somewhere around the second quarter I...

I've got a lot of catching up to do. I see pictures like this and I feel inspired but also overwhelmed at the amount of work to be done. I talk a good game.

No. I haven't had any problems with them. I got everything I promised plus more than I expected. They always answer my messages. The chat method on their website is the best way to contact them. I do know they are a very small company, but I've gotten better service and communication from them than what I've received from some of the big hitters. No buyer's remorse here.

To be perfectly honest, I don't remember the details or the reasons no one in my area would notarize it. I could blame it on the local bar association, but I don't think that was it, so that wouldn't be fair. Legal Zoom was pretty new at that time. So I finally tossed the document and got a lawyer from within the state to write one. The county in Mississippi where I live has grown dramatically in the last three decades as people and businesses continue to move south out of Memphis with its crime and high property taxes. It's not "White Flight". People of all ethnic groups are moving down here to get out of that place. In spite of all the growth and demographic change, the county is still run by four or five old families, but they're gradually losing their grip on things.